New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-02-22
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
nATrLEs OF THE REBELLION.

u
THE CAMPAIGN OF FREDERICKSBURG Nov-peo,
1867 A study for Officers OF Volunteers ny Line
officer. Crown $40, PIP. XIX, lAo' ecripher "cf
ford.
General Walkers elaborate history OF the dis
anguished organization with which he served as
chief of staff is one of the most important OF inc
many important works in which the eXplolts' "'e
sufferin2s and the internal affairs OF separate por
tions of our armies have been commemorate. ~
tell the story of the Second Corps is TO tell the
story of the Army of the Potomac from lorkVo" :
to Appomattox More than any other oooies y,
troops in that army, the Second corps anu o"o
Sixth retained all through the war cer"'li, -
diyiduality and spirit. They contained eAcep'loh-
a,v good material and it was their 1ortuhc'
on;dst tho changes Of generals, to be always CONF
,,anded by men of ability, OF strong character'
md for the most part of great personal influence
General Walker has some very striking ahd we arc
sure very just observations upon the temper per
mancntly impressed upon the Second corps oy
General Sumner. That high-minded veteran TOOK
il in hand when the ranks were filled with INC
best class of volunteers, who had rushed 10 1he
front in the first ardor of the great patriotic up
risnr and when the subordinate commands were
exercised by q splendid band OF impossible young
officers, from anon st whom soon arose some OF
the most heroic figures of the war. The historian
does not overlook Summers defects general,
but he pays an eloquent tribute to those lofty
ldierly qualities Of DEVOTION magnan'mlby, I'M
sefshness obedience, energy and hon-llke cour-
age which profoundly affected his enthusiastic
discples. The traditions of the Sumner period
were well maintained under Couch, commander
of whom General Walker gives a singulary inter-
esting study-one of the best and most glowing
pieces of work in the whole volume. When Han
cock took the corps it seemed as If the soldiers
hnn,. ,,n1n For
so exact was their agreement in spirit The
morale of the troops was never broken until AFTER
the terrible slaughter of the Wilderness campaign
where they bore q cruel share of the losses, and
for n while i'm common with the rest of the army
lost their elan through sheer exhaustion. TERRI
BILE proportion Cf their best officers had fallen,
and the trained soldiers Of Sumner and Couch were
now but handful in the miist OF new subsidy
men and conscripts. General Morgan, who was
IIancocks Inspector General, lamented that The
corps was practically destroyed, and GencraI
Walker echoes him but an organization with such
a history is not easily ruined and the last cam
paign of the war saw the Second Corps under
Humphreys with its spirit quite restored. The
Sixth Corps took its character more from The
admirable Sedcwi k than from any either individual
influence, and maintained it with rare persist |
ency There appears to have been an especial
sympathy between the Second and Sixth, almost
like a romantic attachments They fraternzcd
closely, and trusted each other fully In baule.
Both these fine bodies wee closely identified
with the fortunes Of the Army Of the lotomac.
and the service of the Second with that command
was uninterruI ted. There some foundation
for the popular opinion that it was always relied
upon for the hardest work General Walkers his
tory therefore necessarily covers al the opera
tions of the Army of the Potomac,
c,,ti IF
as well as a descripti Of particular acti Ms 1t
is q difficulty inseparable from his plan that he
must give TO his own corps a prominence In the
narrative which il did not always hold In TACT.
but he seems to have done his best to be just,
and where the true proportions OF thlngs have
been disturbed the reader will generally see how
to make the necessary allowance: The authors
style is exceedingly animated. Sometimes TO inc
unmpassioncd public IT will seem un1uly
rhetorical, but old army men certainly VIII not ob
Ject to the luXurance Of his language, and VIII
understand the flush of feeling which must hurry
the pulse of a soldier when he writes of tremen
dous scenes in which he has taken part The de-
scriptions Of battle are vi orous and picturesque
the tactical explanations are clear and the &C
counts of the movements and dispositions Of troops
are minute and apparently careful. Upon many
POINTS General Walker invites controversy and
as there is little doubt that the invitations Will
be extensively acce: ted, we need not anticipate
the disturbance by showing wherein he is at issue
with other historians. III, comments are frank
his condemnatOns often heavy and he calls
General Badeau that person.
General Walker pronOunces no sweeping opinion
upon Mcclellan, though he indicates the grave
error If McClc lan's Ciep sitions the Chicka-
hominy and calls attention than once to the
failure of the commanding general TO give the
necessary orders at the pr per momentum other
words, to have his forces thoroughly in hand. lie
constantly made the mistake Of enormously over
tie strength of his antagonist The
battle Of Antietam was a series of errors and mis-
fortunes, partly chargeablc upon Burnside, but in
the main attributable to headquarters. The
criticisms uron Burnside and Hooker for the
disasters Of Fredericksburg and Charlottesville
are merciless. They do not differ materially
from the general verdict of military authorities
but we have rarely If ever seen the case against
those generals effectively stated. The cen
stres upon Grants Wilderness campaign are
limited rather than openly pronounced, as If Gen
cral Walker here not so sure OF his ground.
Something must be conceded TO the personal feel
incs of an officer who sees his comrades butchered
at his side, and his corps almost swept out of
in the execution Of policy of contin-
ual assault all along the line, which was entirely
new TO that army. Nevertheless Grant succeeded. |
The contemptuous references to the politicians
at Washington. which mean if they mean any'l :
him, the President and the Secretary of War, are
IN the worst possible TASTE and show an extraor- :
binary Misrepresentation of the problems of the
Rebellion, and Of the true place OF Abraham Z
Lincoln in the history of America. How many
# General Walkers heroes will Outlast Lincoln
IN the roll of fame? ,
The volume is amply furnished with good maps
md portraits, and contains full statistics cor
ccted by the official records at Washington.
The study Of the campaign of Fredericksburg
~ "A Line Officer is an English publication
lvowedly based upon Colonel Chcsney's we'll
Known Campaigns in Virginia" 1t will be
ound interesting on this side OF the water, and